


In Her Footsteps

by Dimensional_Nexus



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Because Surprise Crossover, F/F, Tags to be added as things progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-01 12:49:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13295235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dimensional_Nexus/pseuds/Dimensional_Nexus
Summary: Laura Hollis barely remembered her mother, but her presence resonates through her life. Armed only with a journal she can't read and a slim lead at a university steeped in the occult, she means to answer questions that have plagued her. Who was her mother, really, and why did she disappear so suddenly? The answers may be more than she can handle, and that's nothing compared to what Silas University's own resident horrors have in store.





	1. Silas

**Author's Note:**

> Hope everyone had a good start to 2018! Anyways, here's a new fic, one that goes AU as fuck straight away. All the bits and pieces are there, but this is a crossover so changes are kinda par for the course. With what I'm crossing our favorite web-series is a surprise (unless you're familiar with the thing, in which case, don't spoil my fun) and will be for more than a few chapters. You don't really NEED to be familiar with the thing, though. Laura doesn't really know what's going on, either, after all, so, in that case, you get to discover along with her if you're not in the know.

Getting attacked by vampires was definitely the worst way to wake up, Laura Hollis decided. This was the absolute last time she was hiking through Styria. Every other night something had slithered out of the dark trying to kill her and the three co-eds she'd saved from being torn apart by a werewolf just ten minutes after she'd crossed the mountains that surrounded Silas University. Dodging a grab from a blonde female who looked about mid-30s, she idly mused that as stupid as this idea had been, at least _she'd_  had no choice. The Idiot Trio, as she had taken to calling them in her head, had apparently thought backpacking to their University was a fantastic idea. Which, sure, whatever, just make sure you know the area, are properly supplied, and listen to the locals when they warn you the region is so dangerous that some of the damn trees have started eating people. She, at least, knew how to take care of herself, what with the martial arts training and weird powers, but two of the Trio were currently huddled in fear while the last was trying to hit the one vampire not trying to kill Laura with a stick. The vampire, a slim, dark-skinned guy with bright red hair, looked over at her and they shared a weird moment of commiseration as he idly dodged the awkward flailing in his direction, amusement alight in his eyes.

 

"Why won't you just die!?" Blondie growled as Laura casually stepped out of the way of another lunge.

 

"Well, for one, that sounds really boring, just lying there and stuff. Secondly, it's a matter of pride, you guys kind of suck at this," she replied, yawning as she ducked under a wild punch from behind. The other vampire, a well-built young man, had put so much into the hit that he'd nearly fallen over and she was almost embarrassed for him. A nudge to the small of his back sent him sprawling and she sighed. "Counter-proposal: you leave, and we never speak of this. I imagine your Sire would be less than pleased with your performance."

 

They all winced, hard. Red was the first to speak up, "I'm not doing so bad."

 

She just gave him a look, "A toddler with a broken arm would put up a better fight than Idiot 1."

 

"Idiot 1?"

 

"She graduated to 1 when she decided to not sit and pee herself in fear."

 

There were twin cries of protest from Idiots 2 and 3, but she just glared and they stopped. Well, maybe they _were_  learning, after all.

 

Muscles had finally pulled himself together and back to his feet. He swiped a hand through his mussed hair and practically snarled at her, "Like hell we're letting you get away with humiliating us."

 

"Oh, so you admit this is humiliating? At least you're that self-aware. The carnivorous trees gave me more trouble, and they can't move."

 

Muscles charged again and she decided a little demonstration was in order. He threw a punch and she caught his fist, squeezing hard enough the bones creaked. He fell to his knees and she let go of his hand, kicking him hard in the chest. She took a couple of steps forward planted her boot firmly in his throat, "Just go, please, I'd like to catch a couple more hours of sleep and you should probably get back before anyone notices you've been gone long enough to have to explain."

 

"Why should we spare you and the Idiots?" Blondie asked, clearly furious, but not moving to attack again.

 

"Spare _me_?" she asked, and Muscles let out a strangled groan as she ground her boot into his neck. "What part of this makes you think _I'm_ the one who needs sparing? In the past week, I've killed three werewolves, five vampires, ten sentient trees, and at least thirty demons. I'm giving you the opportunity to walk away because I'm exhausted, hungry, and frankly just not in the mood to deal with this."

 

Blondie and Red just stared at her, and stared. Shaking themselves out of it, they shared a look and nodded. Red spoke up, "Well, then, we'll take our leave. It was nice meeting you . . . ?"

 

"Laura," she replied with a tired, two-finger salute as she let Muscles up. He glared in her direction and she slapped him upside the head. "You guys need to teach that one some manners."

 

"Oh, believe me, we know," Red muttered under his breath.

 

"Hmm, do you guys know the way to Silas University?" Laura asked, deciding that, whether they'd tried to kill them or not, they probably knew the area better. "Idiot 3," she indicated the male of the huddled pair, "got ensnared by some kind of river Siren while taking a bath and pulled us a bit off course."

 

"You didn't mention killing a Siren," Red noted.

 

"Of course not, she was a treat."

 

"How on Earth did you get a Siren to release her captive without killing her?" Blondie asked, looking utterly dumbfounded.

 

"Oh, it was only through great personal sacrifice, I assure you," she replied with a wide grin and a waggle of the eyebrows. "If only the semester wasn't set to start in just a few days," she continued wistfully.

 

Again with the stares. Muscles was more leering, so she picked up a rock and nailed him between the eyes. Red snapped out of it and chuckled, obviously enjoying himself, "Yeah, we know the way. It's only a couple of hours at human speed."

 

"Well, then my nap will just have to wait. Idiots, pack up and get ready to go." It said a lot about the week they'd had that the Trio just did as they were told and didn't say anything about their unfortunate nickname. Then again, every time she'd felt bad about it one of them had stumbled into the mouth of a carnivorous pine tree, tried to "assist" her in a fight, or been kidnapped, so her conscience was silent on the issue. She slung her rucksack over her shoulder and stood between the vampires and her charges.

 

"Why exactly are you escorting the Idiots? Seems like more trouble than it's worth," Blondie asked, raising an eyebrow at the neon pink rolling suitcase Idiot 2 was packing her toiletries into.

 

"I have a conscience and they're loaded."

 

"And why are you out here in the first place?" Red continued the questioning, eyeing the single piece of luggage she possessed.

 

"I don't have a car and the locals are too smart to pick up hitchhikers near the campus."

 

"Well, they're not wrong."

 

"Yeah, definitely not."

 

At that point the Idiots lined up behind Laura like faithful pets and they set off towards the University. Laura marched in between the two groups and chatted with Red, whose name she'd learned was, funnily enough, Silas. He had a great sense of humor and Laura found her sides splitting on more than one occasion. He also had a tendency to fill the gaps between good jokes with awful, awful ones that she swore made her ears hurt somehow. Blondie, Liz, wasn't terrible, but she was wound a little too tight even by Laura's standards and seemed all too acquainted with Silas's odd humor. Muscles, Will, spent the entire first half-hour of the walk nursing his wounded pride and glaring at her before he seemed to get tired of it himself. About halfway, Laura turned to Silas an asked something that had been bothering her, "Why were you guys hunting so far away from the University? You're not exactly those half-starved, crazy vamps in the woods we were attacked by before."

 

"We weren't, there's plenty of good eating on campus," his fangs flashed in a wicked grin and she and Liz rolled their eyes in unison at the lame joke. "We were sent to find out who was coming towards Silas on foot. _No one_ comes to Silas on foot. Not even the non-human students, there's just too much weird shit out here. Not to mention that you got close enough to ping the detection wards. Anyone stupid enough to try and do what you've done has never made it this close, we normally just find bodies . . . or bits and pieces."

 

"Well, I'm not exactly normal. You may have noticed."

 

"Indeed," Liz nodded. "Speaking of your . . . unusual capabilities, our Mother will wish to speak with you once we reach campus. The Idiots are free to go, but Mother wants to know about anyone like yourself."

 

"Mother? That's cute. Most of the prolific Sires I've met are pretentious as heck. It's usually Lord or Master or Dark Lord of All Creation."

 

"Dark Lord of . . . no, no one is that far up their own ass," Silas said, shaking his head in disbelief.

 

"Yeah, that guy was a piece of work. Made everyone in this little village call him that and his fledges the Heirs of Darkness. I legitimately don't know whether I ended up killing him 'cause it was the right thing to do, 'cause I was being paid, or 'cause he was the most annoying old fart on the planet."

 

Silas burst out into deep belly laughs at that, the corner of Liz's lips quirked, and Will was chuckling before he remembered he was supposed to be mad. The Idiot Trio just goggled at her like they always did when she talked about her exploits and she rolled her eyes. How they expected to pass four years worth of college, especially  _here_ , she had no idea.

 

"God, how old was he to be that far out of touch?" Silas asked, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.

 

"Eh, couple thousand, I think. I almost broke a sweat."

 

This time it was the vampires' turn to stare.

 

"You talk about killing a vampire that old like it's no big deal," Will said, suddenly very grateful he wasn't _permanently_ dead.

 

"Once you deal with higher level demons, nothing less is a big deal anymore. Those guys are really nasty, in every sense of the word. Vampires are strong and fast. They can even shapeshift, but are far less likely to spew acid in your direction when the mood strikes them. Strong and fast are easy compared to psychic shenanigans, foot-long claws, or the fact that you can't even fight them in this dimension."

 

"I remember you mentioning demons earlier, but, well, I've only ever heard of them, they tend to stay away from campus. As such, I'm not really familiar with the mechanics."

 

"A powerful demon will pull you into its dimension so its minions or the demon itself can deal with you. The only way out is a medium or to kill the demon that pulled you in. That's pretty much all I know, they don't exactly do much talking in the process. There's a lot of attempted murder and cursing, but rarely any conversation."

 

"So rude. If I pulled someone into a pocket dimension to murder them, I'd at least tell them why," Silas said matter-of-factly.

 

Laura smiled, "Well at least someone has some common decency."

 

Silas grinned back as they finally broke through the tree line, at which point he threw his arms wide, "Welcome, Laura, and Idiots, to Me University."

 

Liz groaned and Laura smacked his arm before turning her attention to their surroundings. They were just fifty or so feet from a group of large, brick buildings. They were all well-maintained and practically screamed European University, with stretches of well-cared for lawn between them. Looked like any other college, she supposed, but hoped that somewhere on campus was the key to the answers she'd been searching for. Knowing her luck, though, she'd only find a heap of trouble and more questions. Liz bade farewell and motioned for the Trio to follow. They'd been laying on the ground, praising whatever deity would listen, since they'd left the trees behind but immediately threw themselves at Laura at the prospect of leaving her behind.

 

"Guys, you'll be fine, jeez. Liz is just gonna take you to your dorms, and then you're golden," Laura reassured them. They each handed her a wad of cash and skittishly followed behind an already exasperated Liz. Laura was tempted to do a happy dance at the prospect of being free of them, but knew better than to jinx it. "So, do I really _have_  to meet your Mother?"

 

"'Fraid so, Killer," Silas replied, pointing towards a building slightly away from the rest, which resembled a small mansion.

 

She let out a low whistle, "Nice digs."

 

"Mother appreciates the finer things," Will told her, pointing out the perfectly manicured garden with tasteful sculpture scattered throughout.

 

As they approached, Laura noticed someone on a bench near a marble big cat of some sort. On closer inspection, she realized it was a young woman, probably about her age, with dark hair and pale skin. She was reading something better described as a tome than a book and only looked up when they were practically in front of her.

 

"Silas, Will, to what do I owe the interruption?" Her voice was low and smoky, her eyes sharp behind the feigned expression of boredom. Laura was smitten.

 

"Remember what Mother asked us to investigate?" Will asked. When she nodded, he pointed at Laura.

 

"This pipsqueak walked here?" She cast a critical eye over the other girl and Laura barely contained the blush rising on her cheeks at the scrutiny. Sue her, she hadn't had a proper night's sleep or a real shower in two weeks. "She doesn't look like much."

 

"Well, Laura somehow managed to get herself and three others all the way here, so books and covers, Sis," Silas grinned as he threw an arm across Laura's shoulders. Laura stiffened and just barely managed not to throw him across campus. At her glare, he removed the offending appendage. "You know the standing rule about powerful individuals on campus."

 

"There's a standing rule? How many 'powerful individuals' do you get around here?" Laura asked, casting a glance around the buildings again.

 

"You'd be surprised," Silas shrugged, motioning her towards the house.

 

"Well, as long as no one tries to kill me, I don't really care all that much, I guess."

 

"People try to kill you often, cutie?" The other girl raised a curious eyebrow.

 

Laura just stared at her for a second before gathering herself, "Um, o-occasionally. They never tell me why, but as long as they're not doing it anymore, what's the difference? Um, w-who are you?"

 

She just stared at Laura for a second, dark eyes boring into her. After what seemed an eternity lost in those eyes, she smirked, "Carmilla. See you around."

 

With that, she went back to her book and Silas gave her a little nudge toward the house. Laura stumbled forward and shook her head as they reached the door, clearing away all thoughts of silky hair and perfect lips. _Vampiric Sire, Hollis, focus. Wait, she's probably a vampire, too._ Laura turned that thought over in her head a bit before finally deciding, _Meh._

Will said his farewells and went up the stairs in the foyer as soon as they entered. She still wasn't sure how to feel about him. On the one hand, he was kind of a douche, on the other, he'd opened up a bit once he'd stopped being mad and wasn't _completely_  awful. Either way, she followed Silas into a small, unoccupied home office down the hallway and put her rucksack on the floor near the door before moving toward the desk and taking a seat.

 

"I'll go get Mother."

 

She nodded and started looking around the room. It was as lavishly decorated as the rest of the house, plush carpet and towering bookshelves surrounding a polished hardwood desk. There were stacks of paper neatly piled across it and a fairly basic PC set up to the side. Something was bothering her about the decor but she couldn't quite think of what. By the time she'd studied the, frankly, odd painting on the wall behind the desk for the fifth time, it finally hit her. There was not a single picture of anyone in the room, or on the way to it. None of Silas, Will, Liz, or Carmilla. None of any woman who could have been their "Mother," none at all, in fact. Maybe it was a vampire thing, she mused as the door suddenly reopened behind her. Her posture went ramrod straight as the hairs on the back her neck stood up, whoever this woman was she was very powerful and definitely not someone to be trifled with. She moved around the desk and sank gracefully into the plush chair behind it. Dark hair and olive skin surrounded darker eyes that practically radiated strength. She had at least six inches on Laura and, for the first time in half a decade, she felt intimidated.

 

"Miss Hollis, I presume," her voice carried the same intensity as her eyes.

 

"Y-Yes, ma'am, t-that's me."

 

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, I am Lilita Morgan, the Dean of Students here at Silas" she extended her hand and the ensuing shake was firm and brief as Laura just stared. "Now, while you _are_ enrolled here, I must admit, your arrival was somewhat unusual."

 

"Yeah, I don't have a car and, like I told your kids, the locals know better than to pick up hitchhikers."

 

"There are plenty of students on the main road into campus."

 

"Yeah, that wasn't really an option. I'm not sure if you're aware, but there's a nest of nasty demons along both sides of that road."

 

"I'm well aware, but they're fairly calm for a bunch of demons. They've never attacked anyone before."

 

"Yeah, well, let's just say that demons don't care for me much and leave it at that."

 

"Fair enough, Miss Hollis. Now, Silas informs me that you are a . . . gifted individual. The University, of course, encourages everyone, human and non-human alike, to enroll and succeed under our careful tutelage, but I will not tolerate any troublemaking on my campus. Exactly what are you, and why are you here?"

 

"If I knew whether or not I was human, trust me, I would gladly tell you, but . . . I have no idea. As for why I'm here, the answer is simple. I'm here for a college education."

 

The Dean gave her a hard stare, evaluating her carefully. Just as Laura started to sweat a bit, she nodded, seemingly satisfied, "Very well, Miss Hollis, I hope your experience here at Silas is a pleasant one. You are dismissed."

 

Laura nodded, "Thank you, ma'am."

 

She stood as gracefully as she could and scooped up her rucksack on the way out. Only when the door was closed behind her did she let out the breath she'd been holding. _Christ, Hollis, what the heck have you gotten yourself into?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet the chapter title made everyone think this was gonna be a boring, little "Welcome to Silas" chapter, huh? I can already hear people talking about Laura being too strong, but I assure you it's in line with the crossover. Besides, she outclasses vampires and werewolves and such. We all know there are far worse things at Silas than either of those. I can guarantee she won't be killing the Dean or Lophii single-handedly without breaking a sweat or anything, so no worries. I'm not sure if Silas and Liz or the Idiot Trio will be more than referenced, but I'm enjoying writing/heaping abuse upon them, so probably. I'm also unsure if keeping the Idiots just Idiots would be better in the long run or if it would just get annoying, I'd love to hear your opinion.


	2. Roommates and Mysteries

"That's the Admin building," Silas explained, pointing at yet another columned facade with carefully planted trees framing the entrance. "Mother's office is in there. It's where Liz is most of the time, too. She's Mother's assistant."

 

Laura just nodded politely, the tour was appreciated, but she was tired and more than a little concerned about the Dean. The woman was one of the strongest beings she'd encountered and her ostensibly human appearance did nothing but set Laura's teeth on edge. It was hard to know exactly what she was dealing with when she couldn't see past the meat suit. A small, rebellious part of her mind was also very disappointed that Carmilla hadn't been in the garden anymore on the way out. She sighed at the thought. One day, she was gonna stop mooning over mysterious women with a dangerous edge. One day. 

 

"What's up?" Silas asked, quirking a perfectly manicured eyebrow. Apparently, he was the spiffy, well-maintained type. She'd felt more than a little underdressed when he'd been waiting for her in his Mother's foyer wearing a finely-tailored black suit, complete with dress shoes, pocket square, and tie. When she'd asked, he'd merely smirked and told her that it was important to look one's best. She, of course, didn't have that luxury. She wore mostly jeans and T-shirts that she could replace easily when they were inevitably torn apart by whatever monster she was hunting that day. Her boots were the only piece of expensive clothing she owned, but that had been a good investment. She walked a lot.

 

"N-nothing, absolutely nothing."

 

He sized her up for a second before a wicked grin pulled at his lips, "Sooooo, a little down because Sis wasn't waiting for us?"

 

"Whaaaat, no, what gave you that idea?"

 

"Only other time I've heard you stutter."

 

Crap. She sighed again, "Am I that obvious?"

 

"For your sake, I'll refrain from answering. I am curious, though. You bragged about bedding a Siren like it was nothing, but my sister turns you into a stuttering mess?"

 

"It was more of a cave floor, but I digress. Sirens are easy. If you can't resist their pull, you're food. If you can, you're a potential mate. It was more stress-release after a week of dealing with the Idiots, anyway. She understood."

 

"And with Carmilla?"

 

"I'm not really the type who can flirt or tell if someone's into me. I like hunting monsters better, you always know where you stand."

 

"I guess I can understand that. I don't really have to worry about that, every guy wants a piece of me. I am, of course, happy to oblige."

 

"Lucky you."

 

"Indeed." He stopped outside another large building that was considerably busier than most of the previous, "This is the Library, you'll definitely want to note the location. Most of your classes won't require a textbook, but you will be expected to do the occasional reading or research. Oh, and don't go in after dark."

 

"What?"

 

"The Library doesn't appreciate it."

 

"Sentient buildings, now? I guess after the trees, I shouldn't be surprised."

 

"Yeah. Like I said, tons of weird shit on and around campus."

 

"Noted."

 

They continued chatting until they arrived at Laura's dorm, where they were met by a plainly-dressed young woman a little older than Laura with curly red hair. Standing next to her was another redhead, more ginger, hair cut short and wearing basically what Laura was plus a denim vest. Silas bowed low to the pair and announced dramatically, "Miss Lola Perry and LaFontaine, may I present the esteemed Miss Laura Hollis."

 

Curls stepped forward and smiled, completely ignoring Silas and offering her hand, "You can just call me Perry, I'll be your Floor Don this year. It's nice to meet you."

 

The other offered a wave before being dragged into a conversation with Silas, who gesticulated wildly as he talked. Perry just rolled her eyes as she lead Laura into the dorm and up a couple floors before stopping in front of 307. She knocked and, when no one answered, opened the door.

 

_She left the door unlocked? Yeah, no, that's not going to be a thing,_  Laura thought as she and Perry moved into the room. The half near the window was covered floor to ceiling in exactly the kinds of things one would expect from a teenage girl. Bright colors and stylish clothes contrasted harshly with the utterly blank opposite side.

 

"Your roommate is Betty Spielsdorf, she's probably in class or out with friends. I hope you two get along okay. If you have any questions, I'm in the room at the end of the hallway. If I'm not around, my number is on the door. Don't ever worry about calling or texting, I'm here for whatever you need," Perry smiled brightly at the end of her spiel and Laura returned it before confirming she was good. Perry left and Laura made a point of locking the door before glancing at her half of the space.

 

"Well then, to unpack or not to unpack?"

 

She eventually decided to go ahead and get it over with. She pulled various toiletries from pockets on her rucksack and placed them on the already crowded bathroom sink. Next, she piled her dirty laundry from the hike in a collapsible hamper she stuck in a corner before putting what little she had clean in the dresser she'd been provided and threw an old quilt and pillow on her bed. After, she retrieved a smaller bag from inside the rucksack, rolling up and tossing the now empty bag under her bed. From the smaller bag she retrieved her laptop and few small personal items. The computer, which looked like it would be more at home on a construction site, she put on a table near the bathroom and plugged in. Her chipped and well-used TARDIS mug went on the fridge and her phone and its charger went next to the computer. A single framed photo was unwrapped from an old blanket and placed carefully on top of the dresser. She ran her finger across the worn frame and stared directly at her mother's face. Smiling and happy, her mother relaxed in her father's arms as she herself held her daughter. It had been taken just a few months before her mother had disappeared. That brought her to the last thing she'd had packed, the whole reason she was here, in fact. A leather-bound journal that she stuck under her mattress until she could get to the Library. Before that, though, it was time for a shower and some rest. In a bed. Oh, this was going to be amazing.

 

* * *

 

"You okay?"

 

Laura's eyes snapped open as someone shook her awake. It took a great deal of self-control to hold back the urge to attack. She breathed deep and reminded herself she was in her dorm at Silas and it was probably just her roommate. Sure enough, there was a well-dressed blonde standing over her. Judging by the concerned look, she knew she hadn't been sleeping soundly. She looked at the clock on Betty's side of the room and saw that she'd been asleep for a few hours. It was about ten and, while she remembered Silas's warning, the urge to hit the Library was intense. She smiled at Betty and nodded,  "Yeah, bad dream."

 

"Ah, that sucks. You must be Laura. I'm Betty Spielsdorf, it's awesome to meet you!"

 

_Enthusiastic, if nothing else, I guess._ "That's me, nice to meet you, too, Betty."

 

They chatted a bit as Laura got up and shed her pajamas in favor of a tank-top, jeans, and a hoodie. As she was pulling on her boots, Betty gave her a strange look. "You going somewhere?"

 

"Just gonna take a walk."

 

"It's not the safest after dark around here."

 

"I can take care of myself, no worries."

 

"Well, if you're sure. Just don't let Perry see you, she will definitely not let you go."

 

"Thanks for the heads up."

 

Laura scooped up her wallet and keys and retrieved the journal from its hiding spot before bidding her roommate farewell. Looking around, she booked it for the stairs when she saw that Perry wasn't in the hallway. Once she was outside, she made a beeline for the imposing silhouette of the Library. During the tour earlier, she'd simply noticed a normal building. Now, she could feel something tingling at the back of her mind. It was the feeling she usually associated with trouble and she rolled her eyes. It figured, the largest repository of occult knowledge on the continent, and only real chance she had of deciphering the journal, was an actively hostile building on a college campus inhabited by vampires and surrounded by all sorts of creatures that had a reputation for killing anyone and everyone they encountered.

 

_My life is never easy._  With that thought in mind, she checked her surroundings for anyone following her. She trusted the Dean about as far as the Idiots could have made it on their own. No one was there that she could perceive, so she made her way inside. She could feel malice settle over her like fog as soon as she entered. She ignored it and moved further inside. It looked like any normal library. The check-out/reception desk was directly ahead, flanked on either side by stairs up to the second floor. Towering bookshelves rose everywhere around her. Her eyes snapped to the side as she heard something...skittering. _Never a good sound._  Still, she ignored it and pressed on upstairs, finding a computer out of sight from the front door and with her back to a wall. Ignoring the sounds of movement from all around her she began a search for books on unknown languages. Not for the first time she asked herself what her mother had been thinking, leaving her a journal she couldn't read. She'd researched every dialect of every language she could and nothing was even close. As the catalogue was searching, which was taking longer than it really should have, she opened the book and glared at the strange glyphs on the page. It was an undeniably beautiful language, whatever the heck it was. Loopy circles and sharp lines, drawn with precision and care. The computer beeped and she tilted her head in confusion at the blank screen she was presented with. "Great, now the computers are broken. Does the universe hate me or is this some kind of test? Either way, someone's getting punched."

 

**"The computer isn't broken, Miss."**

Laura just kept looking confused at the words now on the screen. Was the Library talking to her? "Ooooookay, then. Who are you?"

 

**"J.P. Armitage, at your service, ma'am."**

 For some reason, Laura imagined a bow at that, but shook her head. "Are you watching me from somewhere in the Library? Did you hack this workstation or something?"

 

**"The answer to that question is a complicated one. Suffice to say, Miss, I am not _physically_ in the Library with you. I _am_  in the Library, however."**

"So, you're what? Stuck here?"

 

**"Precisely. We can talk some other time, you should leave immediately. The Library is not happy with your presence."**

"Well, it can suck it up. I'm not going to leave just because the building is getting annoyed." At her words, a low rumble filled the building and a book flew off one of the stacks aimed directly at her face. She simply caught it and moved it underneath her butt in the chair. "Yeah, yeah, you're not going to scare me off."

 

**"I do not believe antagonizing the building is wise."**

"Wise isn't exactly my forte. Stubbornness, on the other hand..." she trailed off, catching another book and putting it with the first one. "I appreciate the concern, but I'm not _that_  short, I can see the screen just fine." Another rumble, two more books. One went under her left boot, the other she opened and began to page through. It tried to close on her hand and she smacked its spine, "Bad book, you are for reading."

 

**"You certainly are one of a kind, Miss."**

"Cut out that Miss stuff. Name's Laura."

 

**"Well, then, Laura, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."**

"You, too, J.P. How'd you end up stuck in the Library?" This time it felt like the entire building might shake off its foundation and the bookshelf in front of her toppled forward. She jumped onto the desk and caught it just before it hit her, bending her knees to absorb the force and rolling her eyes. The books she'd been holding hostage flew away and more and more began falling off the shelf in her hands and pelting towards her. She took the weight of the shelf with one hand and began batting them away. "You are very rude, you know that? I'm trying to have a conversation with my new pal, and here you are attempting to murder me." The shelf that had been behind that one fell next and she grit her teeth and closed her eyes as the flock of books began to ram into her when she had to brace the shelf with both hands again. The impact collapsed her to her knees and she growled, "Enough." Her voice was low and rough, power radiating from her whole body. When her eyes snapped open they were a vibrant violet, glowing faintly in the dark. With a grunt she stood and gave a mighty shove upward. Both shelves flew in the opposite direction and collapsed against the rest. She stood on the desk, breathing heavily as she glared around the building. The violet faded from her eyes and she sat as the Library went eerily still. "Are we done?" There was a small rumble and the shelves began righting themselves, books returning to their proper places. "Good."

 

**"My word, are you alright?"**

"A little sore, but no worse for wear. Where were we?"

 

**"My imprisonment within the Library's catalogue, I believe. I'm not entirely sure, if I'm honest. One moment, I was researching some alarming disappearances on campus and the next I was trapped within the Library itself."**

"Disappearances?"

 

**"Yes, every twenty years a number of young women on campus simply vanish, never to be seen or heard from again."**

"Of course they do."

 

**"I take it by your tone and performance in earning the Library's respect that you are not unfamiliar with strange occurrences?"**

"You don't know the half of it, Jeep."

 

**"?"**

She shrugged, "I'm a nicknamer, sometimes."

 

**"I don't mind. Actually, I am curious what you are here for. In all the excitement, I forgot what you were searching for."**

 

"Lost languages. I have a book that's written in something that I've never been able to identify, and trust me, I have spent a lot of time trying."

 

**"Hmm, do you have any images of this language you can upload onto the computer? I have access to a great deal of the Library's collection and would be able to parse through it much more thoroughly."**

She smiled and retrieved a small flash drive she'd tucked into the journal's pages, plugging it into the workstation. "You rock, dude. I'd be in here for weeks trying to find something, I'm sure."

 

**"Happy to help, Laura. Hmm, very interesting. Nothing jumps out at me, and I've had a great deal of time to read through some very obscure tomes."**

"I was afraid you'd say something like that."

 

**"I'm sorry, but I will probably have to run a search through every book in the library to see if anything matches, and that will take some time."**

"I understand. I was hoping the hard part would be getting here. Should I head back to my dorm?"

 

**"That depends more on your preferences. It will take a few hours at the least."**

"I woke up right before I got here, so I'm not really in a napping mood. I do need to do some shopping, but Silas said everything was pretty much closed by 10:30 around here, so that can wait." She already knew what she was going to ask about, already knew she couldn't resist poking her nose where something was going to try and eat it. She was just putting it off, a part of her vehemently against the idea of sticking around after she'd gotten what she came for. The rest of her, though, was already trying to puzzle out the mystery that had fallen into her lap. _Ritual sacrifice? Demon with an oddly timed diet? God, why can't I just shut up and stay out of things?_ With a long, weary sigh she asked, "So, Jeep, tell me more about these missing girls."


	3. The Bad News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some discussion about LaF and their gender. Let me say right now that Laura's nonchalant attitude isn't an attempt by me to minimize any struggle anyone has with their gender identity. It's just that this Laura leads an exceptionally strange life. To her, someone questioning their gender identity is as mundane as someone wondering what they should have for dinner. She's pretty well desensitized to anything short of monsters leaping out of the shadows trying to eat her kneecaps or similarly odd shit.

"The demons are always watching, lurking around every corner, waiting for their chance. It is up to us, brothers and sisters, to resist the siren song of complacency. They must be opposed at every turn-"

 

"Oh, God, I didn't think you'd binge-watch that freak's broadcasts right away," Laura groaned, slowly blinking as she straightened from her position half-laying on the desk. She'd fallen back asleep, apparently not as perky as she'd thought, after an hour or so of talking with J.P. about the missing persons and other weirdness in the world at large. She'd been awakened by a heavily distorted voice coming from the computer's speakers, the subject of a previous conversation. She looked up at the screen to find the paused image of the speaker, a man wearing a strange and slightly disturbing mask bearing the image of a widely-grinning face.

 

**"I apologize, Laura, I was intrigued. Is there any truth to what he is proposing?"**

"Meh, it's cool, you do seem like the curious type. As for his message, I'm not really sure. I mean it's not inconceivable that the demons are trying to take over surreptitiously, but I've never met any who were subtle in any way. Is it possible there's a bigger, stronger demon forcing them to fall in line with some grand master plan? Sure, but I've never seen any evidence of it. Then again, this 'Order' is American, so maybe it's isolated or not as easy to see here in Europe."

 

**"Hmm, yes, very possible. If correct, his assertions are quite disturbing. Do you think some form of demonic influence is at work here at Silas?"**

"I doubt it, I haven't sensed a single once since arriving on campus. There's the nests along the main road, but they seem almost dormant." Not that she'd been willing to take that risk, but yeah, they hadn't seemed to be doing anything more than watching over the path. Which, in and of itself, was suspicious, she mused. What could they possibly be doing? Every single second she spent here, her regret over making the trip was growing.

 

**"You don't sound especially convinced of that."**

"Well, yeah, Jeep, I'm involved now. My luck is...just awful."

 

**"Chin up, Laura, I believe it will work out."**  A loud _ding_  suddenly played from the speakers. **"The search is done. Hmm, I found one single instance of this script in all of the Library's collection. It seems to be some form of relic recovered in northern Siberia, dating back almost ten thousand years."**

"Well, if it's that old and from such an isolated area, no wonder I haven't made any progress."

 

**"Indeed. It appears to be a shield of some sort, engraved with the same symbols from your journal. It is in the fifth level sub-basement, along with a series of journals kept by the prisoners who found it and a text by the archaeologist who was studying it. It appears he also came to Silas in an attempt to decipher the script. It is extremely dangerous down there. I am not even sure the Library has total control over itself that deep."**

"Once again, of course it is. Is there a map or something of the sub-basements?"

 

**"Not that will be reliable that far down. Past level three the layout is...variable."**

She let her head fall back and sighed, "Fantastic."

 

**"I am sorry, Laura. I can search again if you'd like, just to be sure."**

"We both know you're not going to find anything else."

 

**"I am afraid it _is_ rather unlikely."**

She looked between the screen and journal a few times before sighing again, "Tell me where the stairs are."

 

**"I most definitely think you should delay your excursion until at least tomorrow. The sun is about to rise and the sub-basements cease to exist during the day. I'm not entirely sure what would happen were one to remain below after their disappearance."**

Laura just let her head fall to the desk, "This is going to be so annoying. There aren't, like, chimeras or oni or zombies down there, right?"

 

**"Not that I know of. I think your biggest obstacle will be the structure itself, or rather the lack thereof on levels four and five."**

"Oh, right, I had almost forgotten about that."

 

**"Regardless, I believe your best course of action at this point would be to rest and regroup. Maybe do the shopping you mentioned. Even after you retrieve the shield, there is still the matter of making our way through the texts and translating the language itself. As such, you will, in all probability, be here for a while. May as well settle in."**

"It is looking that way. Alright, I'll head back to my dorm and stash the journal, maybe check my e-mail or something until the shops open. You good here, Jeep?" she asked, standing and stretching her sore muscles.

 

**"I shall be fine, Laura. Though a visit from time to time would be appreciated."**

"You got it, Jeep. I'll keep an ear to the ground for any disappearances, oh, and see if I can find a good text-to-speech program for you."

 

**"Both would be appreciated. Having someone to chat to was a pleasant change of pace."**

"Same, see you 'round"

 

* * *

 

When she walked into her dorm room just ten minutes or so later, she was greeted by pair of worried looking faces. Betty and Perry were sitting on the former's bed, and Perry shot to her feet as Laura locked the door behind her. "Where have you been? It's not safe to roam around campus alone at night."

 

If Laura rolled her eyes any harder, they'd pop out of her head. "I'm fine, Perry. I can take care of myself. I wasn't alone, either, ran into a friend I didn't know went here and we got caught up. Haven't seen him in an age, it was fun."

 

Perry didn't quite look like she was sold, but it was no skin off Laura's teeth if she wasn't. Besides, worrying and looking nervous after telling a lie wasn't exactly the way to convince anyone. She just walked over to her bed and shoved the journal back under her mattress before plopping down in front of her laptop. While it was booting she checked her phone, all while ignoring the pointed stares at her back.

 

"Laura," Perry started, "I don't think you understand. Bad things happening isn't some abstract worry, it's just a fact of life here at Silas."

 

"No, I get that, but let me reiterate, I can take care of myself. Trust me." No messages, no missed calls. Not that that was unusual, per se, but even now, five years later, it felt wrong not to have her Dad blowing up her phone every hour.

 

Perry heaved a great sigh behind her and, unseen by Laura, threw her hands up, "You're almost as bad as Sus-LaFontaine. Up all hours of the night doing dangerous things."

 

"That the ginger you were with that Silas was talking to?"

 

"Yes, that's my friend Sus-LaFontaine! Sh-they are also frustrating and convinced they're invincible."

 

"Pronoun trouble?"

 

"Yes! Sorry, it's an...adjustment."

 

"Eh, sometimes. At least this just sounds like a gender thing, wait until one of your friends is subsumed by an ancient consciousness that considers itself, and I quote, 'beyond such petty things.' That was a weird weekend."

 

There was no reply, so she just assumed they were staring blankly at her back. She wasn't sure why people did that, or why they had such a problem accepting that the world was far stranger than most people gave it credit for. Her laptop finally showed the login screen and she went about checking her e-mail. The only thing that stood out was a message from a contact in the States. In all the excitement getting to the University, she'd forgotten about her bi-weekly message to her Dad and he was worried sick. She wanted to kick herself, it was _her_  fault that they couldn't just talk whenever they wanted anymore, and she'd forgotten about the one way they had to keep in contact in all the confusion of the past week. She'd have to get a webcam and record a video message to make up for the delay, she knew her Dad would appreciate a visual reminder that she was okay.

 

"An-ancient consciousness..." Perry trailed off, apparently still catching up. In the time it had taken, Laura had deleted a good ninety-nine percent of her inbox because spam. "Laura, are you sure you're okay?"

 

Last time someone was this far in denial of the supernatural, Laura had only just barely been able to keep them from getting eaten by some sort of sludge monster. Or was it assimilated? It had been speaking in quite a few voices. "Yes, Perry, I'm fine. When do the shops usually open around here?"

 

"Eight or so," Betty finally chimed in. She'd been barely more than a spectator to the rest of the conversation, but Perry still looked a little shell-shocked. "I need to pick some stuff up, so I can show you the way there."

 

"Much appreciated, Bets." Okay, bank account time. She turned her laptop a little away from the room's other two occupants and typed her login info. Couple thousand still, not horrible. She wouldn't be able to work while on-campus, though, so she'd have to make it last.

 

"No problem, and sorry if telling Perry seemed a little overboard. You seem cool, it would suck if you'd been eaten by a bike rack or something."

 

"Don't tell me those are sentient and carnivorous as well."

 

"Not that I know of."

 

"Yet."

 

"Fair point."

 

* * *

 

Three or so hours later, Betty and Laura were walking back into their room, laden with shopping bags and chatting back and forth about their class schedules. They were slightly surprised that Perry had managed to reboot and make her way, presumably, back to her room. As Betty was stowing their junk food, she started telling Laura about a party that was being thrown that night. "It's gonna be awesome. The biggest frat on campus, Zeta Omega Mu, is hosting. Apparently they do it on the Saturday before the first day of every semester. That way everyone has Sunday to sleep it off before, ugh, class starts."

 

"Hmm, maybe. Except for a couple hours of sex on a cave floor, I haven't really been able to unwind in awhile," Laura mused absently, unpacking and hooking up her new webcam.

 

"Not even gonna ask, Hollis. I think it's better for my sanity if I just don't ask you to explain anything ever again."

 

"Whatever helps you sleep at night. Back to the main subject, frat boys are gross."

 

"I guess that depends on your taste in men."

 

"I'm a lesbian."

 

"Well, I guess you don't really have a horse in that race, huh?"

 

"No, not really, and that's partially why frat boys are gross. Don't know how to take 'I only want to have sex with women' for an answer. They usually stop when I eject them from the bar."

 

"I'm not seeing a downside to dragging you to this party if it saves me from that particular brand of attention."

 

"I didn't say I wasn't interested. I do like drinking and the occasional dance."

 

"Well, now you're talking."

 

"As long as no one I'm actually attracted to is there, that is. I am such a mess around people I really like." Laura groaned, remembering her embarrassing performance in front of Carmilla.

 

"I'll try not to take that personally."

 

"You shouldn't, I have a type. Dark, mysterious, and, more often than not, a fountain of trouble."

 

"Sounds like a pattern."

 

"Yeah, it definitely is," Laura growled under her breath, determined not to fall into that trap again. "Ugh, I've only been here two days."

 

"Ah, you've already found some 'trouble' on campus, haven't you?"

 

"S-shut up," Laura shot back weakly, knowing good and well she had nothing to blame but her hormones. She looked over her shoulder and found Betty smirking at her back, a gleam in her eyes that Laura wasn't entirely comfortable with. "Hey, Bets, could you, um, God there's no way to ask this without sounding mean, maybe be somewhere else for a little bit? I want to record a message for someone, but it's private."

 

"Sexting some past 'trouble'?"

 

"What? God, no. It's for my Dad, we, uh, don't get to talk much."

 

"Oh, sure thing. I'll go make sure Perry didn't just walk down the hallway and like totally shut down in her room. You may have noticed, but she's kinda twitchy when someone brings up weird stuff."

 

"Yeah, I caught that," Laura replied, smiling and waving as Betty left the room. She flipped on the webcam and sighed, not knowing where to begin. "Um, hi, Dad. I'm sorry I'm late getting a message to you, but I was out in the middle of nowhere again. To make up for it, here I am in the flesh, so you can see that I didn't lose an arm or something and hide it from you. I'm sorry it still has to be like this, but you know it's not safe for me to be at home. I hate it, and I miss you everyday. I still check my phone every hour or so, to see if you're worried I'm lost or forgot something. It sucks, and I hate it, but it works. You're still safe," she just stared blankly into the screen for a second, every fiber of her being just wishing she could hug her Dad again. With a shake of her head and swipe of her hand across teary eyes, she kept going, "I, uh, found a lead, an actual, concrete lead, for once. A friend at the library helped me find something that could help translate Mom's journal. It'll be a little hard to get, but you know me, stubborn as they come. I'll try to set up some kind of secure line to call you properly when I figure everything out. I have a good feeling about this one, like I'm finally just a few steps away from actual answers." She gave the camera a determined look and nodded, "I'm sure of it. Anyway, I'm starting to ramble, so I'll wrap it up. I love you, and I miss you. Stay safe, Dad. I love you."

 

She shut off the recording and sent it to her contact. She held it together for all of ten seconds before she flung herself onto her bed, crying quietly into her pillow. Betty walked in just a minute later, whatever she was going to say cut off as she heard the quiet sobs and saw Laura's shoulders shaking. She dropped onto the bed next to her roommate and pulled her up into a hug. Laura was surprised, but welcomed the comfort, wrapping her arms around her new friend and weeping softly into her shoulder.


	4. Stress Release

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, it's funny, you hear all this talk from authors about how the characters sometimes do what they want, but it's so weird to experience. In this instance, I don't know how or why, but Will is absolutely refusing to be put in his canon role as throwaway douchecanoe. Maybe it's Silas and the different family dynamic, I don't know, but I think he might be sticking around after having his head surgically removed from his rectum. Good for Kirsch, but unfortunate for J.P. and me since I now have to think of someone or something else for LaF to Ghost in the Shell him into. Hmm, I wonder how LaF feels about robotics? Betty is also poking me with ideas for her future and none of them involve Princeton, but more than a few are lascivious fantasies featuring one Danny Lawrence. So, that's a thing. Not to mention Carm hovering over my shoulder asking repeatedly when she gets to tease Laura some more. Maybe next chapter, Carm. All that's not even taking into account the way everyone, especially Laura and Betty, is just clicking so well I might be pushing the boundaries of credibility. Ugh, it's frustrating but I'm not gonna gimp character development/interaction just to satisfy realism. I've bantered with people I've barely known, been concerned for and made friends with people in hours, so fuck it!

"You gonna be okay?"

 

Laura sighed and smiled fondly at her roommate, "Bets, I'm fine, just got a little emotional. Like I said, I haven't really had a chance to decompress in a while and it finally caught up with me."

 

"If you're sure," Betty replied, not sounding reassured in the least, but she finally moved to start getting ready for the party. They had had this conversation four times in the hour that had passed since Laura's breakdown. Laura wasn't going to complain about someone looking after her, but she also wasn't fragile and it was starting to grate on her nerves. She took a deep breath and pushed that sentiment aside, knowing that it was easy to underestimate her. Everyone did, and, more often than not, paid the price for it. Still, Betty didn't deserve the biting retort she'd use on someone she wasn't as fond of, so she held herself in check.

 

"How do I look?" Betty asked suddenly, and Laura snapped out of her thoughts, giving the other girl a once over.

 

"Like you're wearing very impractical clothes," Laura shot back immediately with a smirk. It wasn't untrue, the top was low cut but looked easy enough to move in, but the short skirt and heels made her eye twitch. She had changed into a fresh set of her normal clothes, politely declining anything flashier from her roommate.

 

Betty rolled her eyes, "I'm going to a party, not work."

 

"You never know what might happen," Laura replied, winking.

 

"Are you planning something?" Her tone was suspicious, and the sentiment only grew at the mischievous glint in Laura's eyes.

 

"No." _Yes._

"Ugh, whatever, I look fucking great and I know it." Betty stood tall with a hand on her cocked hip, practically daring Laura to say anything else.

 

Laura laughed out loud and thanked whatever deities were paying attention that she seemed to have lucked out on the roomie lottery. A look at the clock told her the party was already well underway and she rose, "Save it for the frat boys, Tiger. It's past time to go, anyway."

 

"Fine, I'll save some sass for later. I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess you don't know where the Zeta house is."

 

"No. You said nothing about a frat house, I suddenly feel compelled to stay here and go through your stuff."

 

"Relax," she placated as they left, Laura staring pointedly at Betty as she locked the door, "it's not in their house. It wouldn't be nearly big enough for everyone on campus. It's on the quad out front."

 

"Yippee."

 

They continued to banter as they crossed campus, following a steady trickle of foot traffic all seemingly headed to the same place. When they arrived, Laura reluctantly had to admit that the Zetas definitely knew how to throw a party. There were people filling basically the entire grassy area between what could only be the Zeta house, if the ten foot tall ZOM standing on the roof was any indication, and the nearest adjacent building a good hundred and fifty yards or so away. A large DJ booth, flashing lights and all, was in front of the frat house and was accompanied by a seriously impressive sound system. So impressive she suspected reports of a break in at the fine arts building would probably be circulating at some point. Beer pong tables and more than a few other incredibly stupid party games were set up at the opposite end of the lawn and a massive banner had somehow been hung between the buildings welcoming them to Silas University. A full, actual wooden bar that looked like it had been ripped straight from a pub somewhere was their first stop.

 

"Welcome to Silas University," a tall redhead behind the bar greeted them as they sat down, sounding about as enthused as someone receiving a colonoscopy. She was one of three young women behind the bar and looked like she sounded, as if she'd rather be anywhere else at the moment.

 

"Well, with a welcome that hardy, why would anyone ever leave?" Laura replied in the same tone, raising an eyebrow.

 

The redhead just sighed, "Sorry, I've said that like a hundred times now. Not to mention the fact that I'm at a godsdamned Zeta party."

 

"You're _working_ at one, yes."

 

"Not by choice. I'm a member of the Summer Society. We're a group for young women to gather together and participate in athletics while avoiding exactly the kind of culture the Zetas propagate."

 

"And you're here?" Betty asked, sharing a baffled glance with Laura who seemed more _a_ mused than _be_ mused.

 

"We handle any drinks not individually packaged at the Zeta parties as a safety measure. They're not exactly the most trustworthy."

 

"I'm sure that request went over great."

 

"It resulted in the Zeta-Summer War of 1967. In return for us doing this, we don't ban them from public Summer-affiliated events and they get to serve all the beer they want as long as it's in bottles and cans. Those are the terms of the treaty, anyway."

 

"Well, thanks for the unsolicited history lesson. Now, how much for a glass of the strongest alcohol you got?" Laura asked, knowing good and well that there was no "starting slow" with her metabolism.

 

"No charge, the Zetas pick up the tab for this party every year. Probably consider it a good deed, too."

 

"So..." Laura prompted, more than ready to get a buzz going.

 

"Well, the strongest thing we have is a traditional Summer recipe." She pulled a clear bottle full of blue liquid from under the bar and set it on the counter. She whispered conspiratorially, "None of the Zetas can handle it like they think they can and that's why we bring it. They _always_ try."

 

"Sounds like a challenge."

 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, friend," a familiar voice cut in as Silas sauntered into view, still impeccably dressed and sipping from a wine glass. "And Danny, I'm surprised at you, trying to the get the freshman wasted. I'm so proud."

 

Danny flipped him the bird before shrugging, "She asked for the strongest."

 

"Is it really a good idea to straight for the hard stuff?" Betty asked, concern in her eyes, probably worried Laura was trying to drown her sorrows.

 

Laura took a deep breath, counted to ten, and jumped onto the bar. She picked up the bottle and unscrewed it carefully, everyone around looking directly at her and whispering to each other, no doubt knowing what was in her hands. She raised the bottle and the crowd let out a cheer as she brought it to her lips. A chant of "Chug! Chug! Chug!" started when it was apparent that she wasn't going to stop at a swig. Her posture stayed straight, the bottle unwavering for a full thirty seconds before she polished off the drink and tossed it casually over her shoulder, directly into the trash can behind the bar. She ignored the crowd as she settled back on her stool, eyebrows raised as she met first Danny, then Betty's disbelieving stare. Silas was laughing his head off, steadying himself on the bar.

 

"Holy shit," Danny whispered. "How in the hell did you do that? It's like 180 proof."

 

Betty put a hand on her shoulder, "You didn't have to go proving yourself. That's probably going to come back to bite you."

 

Laura shrugged, "I'm good." She let out a loud burp, "Excuse me. Well, I'm gonna go dance. You down, Silas?"

 

"With the oh so impressive Laura Hollis? It would be my pleasure." He held out his arm for her to take, but she just grabbed his elbow and yanked him towards the dance floor.

 

"Well, that was a thing that happened," Danny said, looking towards the trashcan and wondering how the girl wasn't currently vomiting her entire GI tract into it.

 

"I'm going to file this firmly under 'weird Laura stuff' and leave it at that. It says something about her, I think, that I've known her all of twelve hours and I'm already saying shit like that."

 

"Damn. How _do_ you know her?"

 

"She's my roommate. I think it's safe to say the semester won't be boring."

 

"Yeah, seems like a sure bet. I'm Danny, by the way, Danny Lawrence." She held out her hand with a bright smile.

 

Betty was too dazzled to say or do anything for a second before she recovered, smiling back and shaking the redhead's hand, "Betty Spielsdorf."

 

* * *

 

Laura and Silas met up with Will and one of his 'bros' near the dance floor. The other guy was also pretty tall and muscular, but kept his hair cropped short and had a wide grin that was genuine and infectious. "Whoa, Silas was telling me about you, little hottie. Said you handed Will his ass." He softly shoulder-checked his bro and Will rolled his eyes.

 

Laura raised an eyebrow at Silas, but he simply winked, "Indeed, she did. Will thought he'd be his normal, tactful self and 'put the moves' on our dear Miss Hollis. She was less than pleased."

 

Laura nodded, that was as plausible as anything, "Yeah, sorry about that Will, you kinda snuck up on me and I reacted. I'm a little...twitchy in the morning."

 

He looked a little stunned by her 'apology' but took the olive branch for what it was, "Yeah, no, my bad."

 

"So, my reputation has preceded me, you are...?" Laura asked the new guy, offering her hand.

 

He shook enthusiastically and she probably would have feared dislocation if she were normal, "Wilson Kirsch, Will's bro and Silas's favorite pack mule."

 

Silas apparently thought that needed a little more explanation, "Kirsch helps out with our productions from time to time, mostly lugging things around or building sets. Apparently a pair of complimentary tickets and a chance to convince the 'hotties' that he's a cultured man are well worth the exertion."

 

Laura giggled at that. _Awesome, a buzz. I might need some more of that stuff._  "So, boys, how's about we hit the dance floor?"

 

"Hell yeah, little hottie, gotta show off my moves!"

 

Will and Silas trailed behind the other two, neither quite as enthusiastic but nevertheless amused.

 

* * *

 

"So, then the arrow somehow deflects into the crowd and ends up embedded into the wall right above the Society President. Everyone froze. I don't think anyone was even breathing. Then, cool as ice, she reaches up and pulls it out, scowling at the girl who fired it and says, 'You missed.'"

 

"No way."

 

"Seriously, I think the poor girl almost pissed herself. That was what made me want to be President, I wanted to be just as awesome as her."

 

"Well, you do seem pretty cool, Danny."

 

"Thanks." A light blush dusted the bridge of her nose and Danny hid it by turning and refilling someone's glass. "You're pretty cool, too, Betty."

 

"I try," Betty replied, holding her chin up and playing it calm when she was jumping up and down on the inside.

 

The silence was pierced by a pair of loud voices singing horribly off-key as they approached the bar. One, they both recognized. Laura was on Kirsch's shoulders, loudly belting out a rendition of some pop song while her ride tried to harmonize. Will and Silas followed, both plugging their ears. "Oooh, it's Betty and Danny, 'sup, this is my new best buddy, Kirsch! Say 'hi,' Kirsch!"

 

"What's up, hotties!"

 

She smacked him on the forehead, "I told you to stop calling people that, bro."

 

"Sorry, bro."

 

"Oh, God, what the hell was in that drink?" Betty asked, staring wide-eyed as Laura stood up on Kirsch's shoulders and jumped onto the bar again.

 

"I don't think it was the contents so much as the amount," Danny replied.

 

Laura tiptoed over and crouched down so she was on their eye level. "Wanna know a secret?"

 

"Umm, sure thing, roomie."

 

"I'm barely buzzed, I'm just having some fun. No worries, Bets, I know what I'm doing," that mischievous gleam was back and Betty had no doubt she would be seeing what Laura had planned very shortly. "Hey, barkeep, let me have another bottle of the good stuff, I might hit actually hit tipsy."

 

"I don't think that's a good idea."

 

"Yeah well," Laura started, but didn't bother finishing. Instead, she hopped down off the bar and grabbed a bottle herself. She set it on the counter and vaulted back over. "Okay, time to have some real fun," she said with a grin and everyone but Kirsch got a very bad feeling. She knocked back the bottle again, Kirsch providing the chant this time. She slammed the empty bottle back on the counter and, without warning, hoisted Betty off her stool and tossed her at Danny.

 

"Laura, what the hell?" Betty cried from Danny's arms, the taller girl having only barely caught her.

 

"It'll be safer back there. Look after her, huh, Lawrence?" Danny was confused but nodded as Laura scanned the crowd. She found whatever it was she was looking for and her grin grew slightly manic as she charged off. Her target was a tall Zeta, bulging with enough muscle to knock even Will or Silas flat through sheer force, who was making some poor girl's life miserable. She was shrinking away from the dude, trying to hide behind her friend who was stuttering as he told the guy to back off. _Hello, acceptable target._  As she approached, she immediately stepped into the guy's personal space, giving him a tiny shove that sent him reeling. He was stunned for a second before recovering and glaring daggers at her.

 

"What the fuck's your problem?!" the prick snarled, turning a fantastic shade of red.

 

Laura ignored him, smiling as she saw the boys coming to back her up, "Do you know what the best way to relieve stress is?" He just continued glaring as Laura popped her neck and rolled her shoulders. When he finally hit his boiling point, he swung hard at Laura's head. She ducked and planted her boot into his gut. He retched and grabbed his stomach with both hands. She grabbed him by the hair, pulled his eyes to meet hers, and smiled, "A good, ol' fashioned bar fight." She then decked him across the face and sent him tumbling across the ground, out cold.

 

"You certainly have a strange idea of fun, Laura. I'm also certain you shall end up barred from future Zeta events, as well," Silas said, taking up position on her right and rolling up his shirt sleeves while she glared at him for the pun. His vest was already unbuttoned and he seemed to be just as eager as Laura as the first casualty's friends began surrounding them.

 

"Come on, bros, you saw how much of an asshole the dude was being," Kirsch tried even as he took her left. It fell on deaf ears, even from a fellow Zeta. "Well, I'm not gonna let you hurt the little-Laura, bros or not."

 

"What's a little pummeling between bros, Kirsch, they'll forget about it in a week. They'll probably thank Laura for the exercise," Will also sounded like he was looking forward to this and she met his eyes over her shoulder. He nodded and she grinned.

 

"Well, then, boys," Laura cracked her knuckles, "allons-y!"

 

* * *

 

"Did she just quote Doctor Who before kidney punching a dude?" Danny asked, looking over at Betty, still in her arms, both stunned as the party began to devolve into a scene from an old western. Some were screaming and running, just as many were joining in, and Danny was certain that the campus clinic would be full to bursting in the morning.

 

"I think so. Did Silas just hit a frat bro with another frat bro?"

 

"Yeah, looks that way," the sound of someone's arm snapping broke the daze they were in and Danny blushed before letting Betty down. She turned to her fellow bartenders, "We should probably go ahead and pack up, guys, I don't see this ending well."

 

Betty sighed, "This may be a bit more than I signed up for."

 

"Well, you don't get to pick your roommates. I'm sure you could submit a request for a transfer if you wanted."

 

"Nah, I think I'll be okay. I mean, it's not like she hit _me_  to start this madness."

 

"Yeah, coulda been worse."

 

"On the bright side, my roommate just suplexed a dude three times her size, so I probably don't have to worry about room safety."

 

"No, most definitely not. How the hell is she doing this crap?" Betty didn't respond, so she just assumed that she didn't know, either. She had packed up half her section of the bar when she realized that the other girl hadn't moved or said anything in a while. "Betty, you okay?"

 

The other girl jumped and looked at her with zero recognition in her eyes, which were wide and absolutely t _errified_ , "W-who are you? Where the hell am I? What is going on?"

 

* * *

 

Laura ducked another clumsy hit and spun, grabbing the arm and tossing the dude into two more approaching from behind. _Nothing like a good brawl,_  she mused, charging and tackling someone who'd been trying to get at Kirsch from behind, rising quickly and grabbing one of the guy's legs. "Hey, Will, duck!" Will obeyed and, with a grunt of effort, she tossed the bro at the three who'd been ganging up on Will. There was a lull in the fighting and the four regrouped.

 

"Damn, Laura, you are a machine," Kirsch enthused, sporting a bruise across one eye and missing half his shirt.

 

"Why, thank you, Kirsch, you're not so bad yourself," Laura beamed back at him. She was also sporting a black eye and various cuts and scratches.

 

"Well, Laura, are you having your fun?" Will asked, looking none the worse for wear. Thankfully, he and Silas were as good at pulling their punches as dodging incoming attacks.

 

"Oh, definitely." She twisted out of the way of a hit from behind and drove her elbow back into her attacker's chest, knocking him arse over teakettle. "It's been too long since I've walked into a bar and decked someone."

 

"Do that often, do you?" Silas asked, still, somehow, impossibly put together. 

 

"Only when I'm stressed and don't feel like fighting anything that's gonna try and rip my arms off." Kirsch gave her an odd look and she took a chance, "I hunt monsters for a living."

 

"That explains the wicked right hook," he said thoughtfully. Apparently, he was more on board with the whole supernatural thing. She was pretty sure he was a normal human, too. She mouthed 'Human?' at Will and he nodded. All the more impressive that he was holding his own, then.

 

"Laura!" Danny's cry sounded a little panicked and Laura's head immediately snapped over to the bar. She couldn't see Betty at all, and Danny looked confused and frantic. _Not a good combination._  The four of them made their way towards the bar, fending off the occasional attack, but the brawl was winding down. People conscious and not injured limping away while a good number lay in the grass, out cold.

 

"Time to go, guys." She pointed to the path leading to the quad from the rest of campus, where a number of security officers and doctors from the clinic were approaching. "I'm going to get a talking to from the Dean again, aren't I?"

 

"Probably, though it would give you a chance of seeing Carmilla again, so worth it, right?" Silas tone was teasing, and he wagged his eyebrows when she glowered at him.

 

"Oh, does someone have a little crush on our dear sister?" Will sounded so smug she wanted to stake him and feed the body to a werewolf.

 

Kirsch made a disappointed little sound and looked at Laura like she'd mortally wounded him, "Aw, no chance of a date then?"

 

"'Fraid not, big guy," she replied, clapping him on the back as they reached the bar.

 

"Laura, I'm not sure what happened, one minute we were watching you lay the smackdown on some guy and then she was freaking out and didn't know where she was," Danny said, so fast it was practically one word.

 

Laura vaulted the bar again and saw Betty curled in on herself, resting her head on her knees and shaking like a leaf, "Bets, are you okay?"

 

The other girl looked up at her and just like Danny she was disturbed by the lack of recognition. She knelt down and smiled, trying to look reassuring even as she puzzled this latest mystery out in her mind. "I-I don't know. One minute, I was on a campus tour and then I'm watching a bunch of people beat each other up! I-I-I-" She started crying and Laura hesitated before putting a hand on her shoulder, not sure if it would be a comfort or not.

 

"Hey, I was in a bad spot just a little while ago and you were there for me, I'd like to return the favor." She sat down next to Betty and threw an arm across her back, a little surprised when she rested her head on Laura's shoulder. "I don't know what's wrong, but I'll try to help. That's kinda my job, helping people."

 

Betty sniffled and she could just barely make out the other four smoothing things over with the security officers. Silas was promising that she would be visiting the Dean tomorrow while Will and Kirsch were reluctantly helping the Summers finish packing the bar. "Who are you, anyway?"

 

"Your r-friend, Laura. I've got you, Bets."

 

"I kinda hate that nickname."

 

"Sorry."

 

"Nah, I think it's okay from you. It doesn't feel condescending or infantilizing."

 

"Bad experience with nicknames?"

 

"Bad experience with people."

 

"Yeah, been there a few times."

 

Suddenly, Betty jumped and sat up straight, looking very confused, "Ugh, did one of you convince me to try that Summer brew?"

 

Laura stared at her, "What's the last thing you remember?"

 

"You suplexing that guy. That was pretty badass, roomie." She caught Laura's strange look, "What? Did someone hit me or something?"

 

"No, but..." she trailed off, uncertain how to continue. "For a second, it was like you had never met me, or Danny."

 

"Really? That's weird. I'm fine now. So, friends, huh? Isn't that a little presumptuous, Hollis?"

 

"Nah, I make friends quick, and you're pretty neat, Bets."

 

"Neat? Dear God, are you eighty?

 

Laura shoved her lightly and tried not to think about the storm of utter crap heading her way tomorrow, not to mention this new level of strange. She looked up at Danny, who'd been keeping an ear on their conversation. She seemed to realize the same thing Laura had. Something was very wrong with her roommate.


	5. Depths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've done some things with Silas's background that just kinda jumped at me in an effort to integrate him more into the fabric of this universe. I think it's something interesting. It also helps reinforce one of the key themes in what I'm crossing Carmilla over with. That being that one's humanity is less tied to what they are and more to being able to show compassion and care for someone else. Hell, the thing's title is a reference to a character espousing that very theme in a seemingly offhanded comment. In that vein, I think it makes all the difference in who the Dean and Mattie are as characters. The Dean has let love morph into obsession and that has withered her ability to actually, genuinely care about anyone or anything outside of that context. Mattie, on the other hand, actually loves Carmilla. I believe that wholeheartedly. So, I'm choosing to showcase that in other ways. Also, the beginning paragraph is a little weird and disconnected, but, trust me, I'm not just yanking your chains, it's setup for stuff later, same with the Dean's scene.

 

The stacks stretched into forever. Every time she tried to get her bearings, the world seemed to shift and distort. Despite this, she felt no danger, only a strange sense of calm. The colors were oddly muted outside of an ethereal light that reminded her of a full moon on a clear night. The further she walked, the more washed out everything seemed, but, at the same time, the more at peace she felt. She found herself perusing the books and noticed a wide variety of strange subjects paired with a number of titles she couldn't read. She walked idly, without a care in the world, for what could have been minutes or millennia before the shelves came to an end in a small reading area full of comfy-looking chairs and a few rows of desks. She walked over and sat carefully, practically sinking into the chair's cushions with a big grin on her face. Popping up, she ran back to the shelves and snagged an armful of books that piqued her interest before settling in. Halfway through a weighty tome on the proper way to commune with something called a Great One, she began to drift off to sleep. She fought to stay awake in this paradise of learning for as long as she could but eventually fell into slumber and woke up.

 

* * *

 

"What's got you in such a funk, pretty boy?"

 

Silas cracked a small smile at the teasing, breathy voice of his aunt. He met concerned dark eyes and sighed. "Take your pick. Mostly, I miss mère."

 

Carmilla blinked, things must be bad if he was slipping back into his original accent, a thick New Orleans flavor of French. "Me, too, kiddo." It had been more than a little surprising, finding out that Mattie had become attached enough to a human to not only claim him as her own, but turn him when his life was cut short. The endless stream of sighs and rolled eyes whenever Carmilla got too close to any human at odds with her actions, and more than a little satisfying to claim revenge for. A wretched part of her that she despised had been jealous, furious that Mattie had revealed her true nature and found acceptance. The rest of her, though, was simply happy that Mattie was happy. "I'm sure she misses her little, French puppy, as well."

 

He raised an eyebrow, "You know, in a roundabout way, you just called yourself a bitch. I'll take that as a win."

 

"Your particular brand of logic never ceases to amaze, dear nephew. What else is on your mind?"

 

"'Mother'," he spat the title with utter disdain, "gave Will and I quite the stern talking to after our escapades at the Zetas' welcome party. She seemed quite interested in our newest student, and you know her interest is never a good thing. I like the girl, she's quite the little spitfire."

 

"You're afraid Mother's 'interest' will make her a target."

 

"Indeed, although a part of me is certain she will simply kill her. I've not known her long, but, by her actions, I can tell she will not let it rest if she finds out about the sacrifices."

 

"Ah, hero complex?"

 

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Either way, I imagine the inevitable clash between her and 'Mother' will be one for the record books."

 

"You think she has a chance?"

 

"I'm not sure. Call it a gut feeling, but I believe there is much more to Laura Hollis than meets the eye." Carmilla gave him a look. She knew there was something deeper that was bothering him. He stood fast for a few moments before caving, "I'm also afraid that the time will come very soon, when we shall have to choose. To stand with 'Mother' or be cast aside. I hold no love for the woman, but I've grown quite attached to all of my parts being intact."

 

They grew silent after Silas's pronouncement, both lost in contemplation. Silas was preoccupied with thoughts of his mère, wondering what strange and bloody trouble she was most likely indulging in. Carmilla was weighing whether or not this Hollis girl really stood a chance should a confrontation occur. Her Mother was old, and powerful beyond words. She sighed, what was another dead girl in the grand scheme of things? _It was nice to meet you, Laura Hollis, but you really have no idea what kind of lions' den you've stumbled into._

* * *

 

**"Laura, I do believe that repeated head trauma is unlikely to remedy the headache you were complaining about."**

Laura looked up, ceasing her assault on the desk with her forehead, "I'm fine, Jeep, I just really, really need to stop drinking. I don't even really get drunk, just tipsy enough not to think through every bad idea I have. This is far from the dumbest thing I've done after downing a couple of bottles. The first time was shortly after I ran aw- _left_ home, and I was feeling pretty down. I ended up in some bar in Anchorage, and started drinking with a group of friendly Russian sailors. Four bottles of vodka and a little boasting later, they were cheering as a tiny, naked fourteen-year-old wrestled a fully-grown Kodiak in the snow."

 

**"I don't even know how to respond to that."**

"Yeah, I don't blame you. Afterwards, they were a little sore about losing the bet, but more than willing to hook a girl up with some warmer clothes and passage across the Pacific. Ship life was kind of fun. I stayed with them for a bit, putting my strength to work helping out one of the older guys who was too stubborn to admit he may not be able to hack it at sea anymore. Poor Arkady, I ended up training his replacement when he dislocated his shoulder trying to handle freight on his own. He was an ornery old goat, but cheerful as can be with a plate of food and a glass of vodka in front of him. He died a year or so later, lung cancer." She sighed, lost in memory for a second before shaking her head. "As if my own remembrance of beating up half of Zeta Omega Mu wasn't enough, I also got quite the scolding from the Dean. 'You told me you wouldn't be causing any trouble on my campus, Miss Hollis.' 'I expect better out of Silas students, Miss Hollis.' She must have gone on for an hour before dismissing me with a warning and a glare that would stop a meteor."

 

**"That certainly sounds in line with what I have heard about her over the years."**

"And then, as a big crap cherry on a sundae of crap, something weird is going on with my roommate. I told you about how she freaked out at the party, yeah?"

 

***nods***

_Ha, I'll make a modern man out of you, Jeep._ "Well, she snaps back to normal like nothing happened, joking around with me and laying the moves on Danny like a horny teenager, which is less of an analogy and more of a fact, I guess. Anyway, we get back to the room and it happens again for a split second. I come out of the bathroom and, there she is, holding a pair of pajama pants and staring around the room like she'd never seen it before. I take a step and she comes back to reality, not even realizing the apparent gap in time. I spent all day today finding my classes and when I get back to my room just an hour or so ago, she's still asleep. Barely even moved. Stack that on top of dealing with the Dean, whatever those demons just off campus are planning, and making my way down to the bowels of the library to solve the mystery of my mother's disappearance, and that's why I have a headache. Could you even tell I was in a brawl last night? Nope, all my bruises and such healed in a fraction of a second, but I can apparently still get stress headaches."

 

**"You forgot class."**

"Oh, right, that. That's not even a concern that pinged my radar...and now my headache's just that little bit worse."

 

**"Apologies. Thankfully, I have some good news. I know I said a map wouldn't help below level three, but I took the time to locate one anyway, just as a precaution."** A set of blueprints appeared onscreen, showing the Library from a variety of angles. **"These are the original plans for the building. It was built with, as you can see, six subbasements. The Dean apparently planned for Silas to become quite the repository of knowledge, all of the lower levels are tagged 'Archive/Artifact Storage.' The plans are fairly simple, but the Library has changed quite a bit over the years, and no one has ventured down to remap since the Library achieved sentience."**

"'Achieved?' It wasn't built that way, to like, take care of the books or something."

 

**"No, the Library grows more self-aware by the day, even now. The best theory I have is that there is so much arcane knowledge stored here that it began to affect the very structure. I saw some titles on my scan through the archive that would make Lovecraft look like a toddler playing make-believe."**

"Good to know, always fun when eldritch knowledge is involved. I hadn't gotten around to filling my monthly quota of punching cultists in the face, either, so win-win." Her tone was so caustic it could have stripped paint.

 

**"Rest assured, no one appears to have gained access to it. Most of the truly dangerous tomes are stored on Level Six, which appears to have vanished entirely. It also seems, from what I can interpret of its actions and reactions, the Library sees itself as both repository and guardian. Knowledge is power, and some of the knowledge it holds is far too powerful."**

"Well, it's nice to know the Library is on the same page as the rest of us where rampaging horrors from beyond time are concerned. Now, where is the entrance to the lower levels? The sun's going down."

 

**"There are two, positioned beneath the staircases to the upper floor. Are you sure about this, Laura?"**

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Oh, and sorry about not having a text-to-speech program for you, the ones I could find kinda sucked. I might have to have a friend write you one."

 

**"That's quite alright. Now, I am reasonably aware of what is going on in the first level, so I'll be able to communicate via the workstations down there, but beyond you are on your own."**

"All alone in the bowels of a sentient library, what's the worst that could happen?"

 

**"Why on Earth would you say something like that?"**

* * *

 

"Mother, call for you, line one," Liz shouted, tone professional and clipped as she transferred the call, immediately returning to the mountain of paperwork piled on her desk. She still held out hope that the Dean would do her own paperwork someday. She was honestly better at signing Mother's signature than her own at this point.

 

Not expecting any calls, the Dean stared at the phone for a second, trying to guess at who might be on the other end. "Hello?"

 

"Ah, Miss Morgan, it's been far too long," the slick, oily voice of Kyle Ryder answered, his tone as arrogant as ever. The Dean barely contained a groan, she only just tolerated the American mogul on a good day. After the annoyance Miss Hollis had caused last night, her patience was all but spent.

 

"Mr. Ryder, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

 

"There is a thorn in my side. He moves among the humans, and I have been unable to locate him. Most of my agents are...preoccupied consolidating my plans, so I was hoping to borrow one of your children for a time."

 

"There is no one else you'd prefer to call?"

 

"As I said, they are otherwise engaged."

 

"And if I were...unable to comply?"

 

"Well, Silas is such a lovely institution, it would be a genuine shame if I needed to step in to ensure a more effective administration." The air in her office grew heavy with malice, her ear against the receiver almost burning at the man's mere voice.

 

"Very well, I shall send someone to assist you in removing this 'thorn.'"

 

"I knew you'd see reason, Lilita," her name on his lips made bile rise in her throat. The line cut and the oppressive feeling dissipated.

 

"Elizabeth, get Matska on the phone."

 

* * *

 

After all the build-up, the first subbasement was more than a little disappointing. It simply looked like more library with a distinct strangeness in the air. _Well, I guess I should have expected this, the first level is always easier. Wonder what kind of final boss is waiting on me?_  She had a fleeting thought that the Dean would somehow materialize and stop her cold, but shook it off and keep going, glancing ever so often at the blueprints Jeep had been kind enough to print out for her. For the most part, it was still accurate. A few shelves had been replaced with desks. A relic from the days of students actually checking the archives, she imagined. Still, as peaceful as it seemed, the Library's distinct... _offness_  persisted.

 

**"How are you doing, Laura?"**

She smiled as she turned to the nearest workstation, "Fine, Jeep, and, for the record, that's the fifth time you've asked. I'm keeping track."

 

**"Yes, well, most people do not tempt fate as you do so regularly and it has been quite sometime since I've had anyone to talk to."** The text itself somehow seemed indignant and Laura chuckled.

 

"It's all good, buddy. Just found the entrance to the next level, I'll be back in a bit, promise."

 

**"I will be holding you to that."**

Wondering how he planned on doing so, Laura opened up the door to the next level and gasped a little as a wave of...something hit her. It felt...good. She felt stronger than ever, even her headache was dissipating.

 

A small _beep_  drew her attention, **"Laura, what's wrong?"**

"Absolutely nothing," she replied with a grin, she felt lighter than air.

 

**"Your eyes are glowing again."**

"Really?" She walked over to dim computer screen and, sure enough, her eyes were glowing violet in the dark. "Huh, that usually only happens when I get angry or really have to put my back into kicking something's butt. Weird."

 

**"I will only ask once more, do you really think this is a good idea. I could do more research."**

"Jeep, take a digital breath and chill. I will be fine. I have hours before I even have to worry about sunrise and I feel like I could drop kick a planet right now."

 

**"Please endeavour to refrain."**

"Oh, please, spoil my fun," still, the snarky response told her he was calming. "Catch you later, Jeep."

 

**"I certainly hope so."**  He replied unnoticed as she dashed through the door, the heavy wood slamming shut with a loud bang behind her.

 

The odd feeling of power persisted as she walked down the staircase, the air thick with energy that felt similar to what she tapped when she did things that were stupid or crazy or both. _So, what, I'm related to the Library somehow? What in the heck is going on?_  Level Two was much the same as the first, and she quickly moved towards the next staircase. Opening the door, she shuddered this time, feeling like electricity was flowing over her skin. She pushed the feeling away and moved on, not pausing to consider the consequences, as per usual. She emerged into a cozy sitting area, a door across from her and an archway to her left, flanked by a pair of bookshelves. She walked over to the door and was left dumbfounded as it opened onto the side of a mountain, snow billowing into the room. She poked her head through and, sure enough, the door was _just_  a door sitting out in the middle of nowhere. She closed it and reopened it, her hand blurring as she snagged the tendril that was coming straight for her face. "Well, that's just rude, you greet all your guests that way?" She pulled hard and slammed the door shut, feeling the creature she couldn't really describe slam into the door with some sort of pained gurgle. She then proceeded to slam the door ten or so more times on what must have been one of the thing's arms, only releasing it when the thing's noises grew something similar to contrite. Feeling it had learned its lesson, she released the tendril and shut the door firmly. "Man, the nerve of some...things." She stared at the door for another minute or so, contemplating whether or not to reopen it, and thanking everything holy that it wasn't supposed to be the next staircase down. _Third time's the charm?_  She thought uncertainly, opening the door much more cautiously this time. This time was more normal, but still very strange. It looked like an office of some sort. Propping open the door, she took a few steps out and looked out the window. Off in the distance, she caught sight of the most remarkable building she'd ever seen, massively tall and shaped like a pair of enormous glass wings. As she stared, something nagged at the back of mind and she couldn't quite figure out what until she tried to sense if anything was different and was nearly floored by the overbearing presence she felt. It was like she was being watched from everywhere at once. An image flashed unbidden in her mind, a set of three massive, floating eyes, burning red with hatred unlike anything she'd ever experienced.

 

_**"Who are you?!"**_ a voice boomed through her mind, feeling like it was tearing at her ears.

 

"Shit," she mumbled as she felt the world begin to tilt and shift. Demonic energies flowing like water all around her. She turned and booked it, dodging a section of floor as it tore away and tried to skewer her. The floor shuddered and the door was suddenly twice as far. She dodged another spike and dug her heels in, throwing everything she had into pelting towards escape. Duck. Roll. Jump. Twist. The very building seemed as if it were trying to kill her and the voice was still clawing at her mind, demanding to know who she was. Finally, she leapt as the floor cracked and the room elongated, barely catching the bottom of the door. She hung there, the pit underneath her seemingly bottomless, for a second before swinging herself back into the library and slamming the door shut. Whatever energy permeated the subbasements immediately set her at ease, helping to settle her after having been briefly dragged into Limbo. "Yeah, really hope I never end up in that city again." Having that voice in her head, that image she saw, it was much like she'd imagine Pippin felt staring into the Eye of Sauron. _Well, I'm done for the night. Good luck sleeping, me. That was terrifying._  A few minutes later, she was back in the Library proper and gathering up her stuff at the usual workstation on the second floor.

 

**"Oh my God, Laura, what happened?"**

"Hmm?"

 

**"You're bleeding."**

Surprised, she looked at herself and found blood soaking through her shoulder. She whipped off her shirt and winced at the piece of wood shrapnel embedded there, "Crap, must not have felt it in the moment, I was kind of preoccupied."

 

**"What happened?"**

She began to carefully remove the larger piece and started picking around for any smaller ones. "Well, there's this door down on Level Three that leads to other places. First was a mountain, and then some weird thing that needed a lesson in manners."

 

**"Against all logic, I'm guessing that you opened it again even after being attacked?"**

She smiled, "Wouldn't be me if I hadn't. It looked normal at first, but then there was a voice in my head and I started getting dragged into Limbo. Barely made it out."

 

**"Limbo?"**

"Demon realm, they pull you in when they want to kill you. I've had to bait myself into getting pulled in a few times, but this was something else. That power, it was like nothing I've ever felt. The Dean felt like a minor threat comparatively."

 

**"Well, I think you've learned a lesson about doors that can apparently go anywhere?"**

"Don't play with them?"

 

**"Indeed."** She felt the glare, like literally felt it. **"Do you need any bandages, I believe the receptionist keeps a small first aid kit in her desk."**

"Nah, just watch." As J.P. "looked" on in fascination, the wound began to close, until, only a few seconds later, the skin was smooth like nothing had happened. "I wasn't being euphemistic about my healing."

 

**"I can see that. It is remarkable. Hmm, what is that mark on your back?"**

"Oh, that. No idea, it's been there as long as I can remember." She knew what he was referring to. A symbol etched into her upper back, between her shoulder blades. A scythe with a jagged blade, almost like a bolt of lightning, and a stylized angelic wing extending opposite the blade.

 

**"It glowed as you healed. The same color as your eyes."**

"So I've been told. No idea the connection, though."

 

**"Yes, well, it's getting late, and you have class in the morning. To bed."**

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." She waved as she departed and J.P. was left pondering the mystery surrounding his friend, every bit as odd as anything Laura had claimed was causing her headache.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the most explicit I've been so far with clues for what the crossover is with. Once again, I ask anyone who knows not to just blurt it out, it's less fun that way. Save your 'HA! I knew it!'s for the actual reveal chapter. Sly comments talking in vague notions are entirely encouraged, however.


	6. Bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, I'm not dead. A combination of enjoying my break between shows, Monster Hunter: World, a cold, tech week for my current show (which is hell, ask anyone in live theatre), and actually hammering out the details of the chapter lead to this delay, and I sincerely apologize. Hope you enjoy, except for the beginning this is entirely Laura and Carm.

_Nononononononononono,_  she thought on frantic repeat, pushing her body as hard as she could to reach the door in time. Looking ahead, she caught sight of it just as it was replaced with bare wall and, to add injury to insult, she was going too fast to stop properly. As a result, she slammed into the wall at top speed and bounced off, landing painfully on her back with a loud groan. "Crap!"

 

"Laura, are you alright?" a digitized voice with a posh British accent asked from a nearby computer.

 

"Just fine, Jeep, just...fine." Deciding that she probably deserved this, she just lay there, trying to figure out when she'd gotten so sloppy.

 

"I tried to warn you that you were pushing yourself too hard."

 

"Yeah, yeah, save the 'I told you so's for some other time. Like when I'm not locked in the library for the day."

 

"Would you like me to e-mail something plausible to your professors?"

 

"That would be nice of you."

 

"I shall have to bring in someone else to help corroborate your story. Would you prefer Ms. Spielsdorf, Ms. Lawrence, or Mr. Belmonde?"

 

"Silas, he already knows about my late night Library visits. Found me making my way here on Wednesday."

 

"Very well, I shall arrange your excuse."

 

"You're the best, Jeep."

 

"Thank you. Are you planning on getting up anytime soon?"

 

"Nope."

 

"Good, get some sleep, you've been in here every night this week. The library is going nowhere, Laura, and you are going to get seriously hurt at this rate."

 

She mulled that over. Ever since she'd found that weird portal-door on the third level last Sunday, she'd been in the sub-basements every chance she could get. Monday's visit had been natural, wishing to continue on after recovering from her near-miss with that strange power she'd encountered. The near-obsessive single-mindedness had kicked in when she'd been unable to locate a path that lead further into the library. She'd scoured all three levels and opened the portal-door dozens of times, but hadn't once found a clue as to how to progress further. It had frustrated her so intensely that she'd barely interacted with anyone or payed attention in class all week. Heck, she'd barely noticed Kirsch and Danny in her Lit class. The only times she'd engaged were when Betty had one of her "episodes," as they were calling them. They were increasing in frequency and duration, and, more and more, she was beginning to think that the fun, party-girl was some kind of alternate personality. This other, possibly true, Betty was scary smart and far more serious and down to Earth. Despite her intelligence and Laura's experience with weird things of all varieties, though, they still hadn't been able to work out what was going on. Sleep, as J.P. noted, was very low on her priority list. She released a deep, bone-weary sigh, "You're right, buddy, I definitely need a nap."

 

"I'll wake you when the doors are about to reappear."

 

She yawned and nodded, "Thanks."

 

Apparently more tired than she thought, Laura fell asleep right there on the floor.

 

* * *

 

"Laura," the young woman failed to stir. "Oh, Laura!" Nothing, once again. Already frustrated with his friend, J.P. decided a little mischief was warranted. He queued a series of random sounds in his speech program, cranked the volume to the highest, and then proceeded to blast the cacophony he'd created through the speakers of every computer within hearing range. The response was immediate and violent, Laura bolting to her feet, eyes glowing briefly, a sword in each hand. J.P. didn't have time to examine the blades before they disappeared again as Laura realized what had happened.

 

"Oh, haha, very funny, wake the monster hunter with a banshee's cry. Very smart, Jeep," she growled. She took a deep breath and tried to dismiss the terror that had briefly gripped her.

 

"I apologize, Laura, that wasn't my intention. I just amalgamated a series of sounds into something I thought would be annoying. I meant no harm."

 

Laura sighed, "I know, Jeep, I know. Bad memories. So, doors are back?"

 

"Momentarily," was the reply, even as aforementioned door appeared in front of her.

 

"Good timing," she said, stepping through the door and practically dashing for her normal place on the second floor. All her things were blessedly still where she'd stashed them in a drawer, and she let herself relax again as she sank into the chair. "I think it might be time to take a break, Jeep."

 

"I concur wholeheartedly."

 

"Thought you might."

 

"Well, forgive me for being concerned for a friend."

 

"I appreciate it. I'm, ah, not always the best at taking actual care of myself. I'm good in a fight and pretty tough but remembering to eat right and take it easy is hard."

 

"How you've lasted this long on your own is anyone's guess."

 

Laura rolled her eyes, about to retort, when a noise caught her attention. Raising a finger to her lips, she moved quietly to press her back against the bookshelf nearby, edging her way towards the only way anyone could use to approach this particular workstation. The limited access was the main reason she'd settled on it, and it looked like a decision that was going to pay off. She waited patiently, striking as a pair of boots came into view. Before the other person could react, she had reached out and yanked them around the corner, pinning the intruder against the shelf. A pair of surprised and alluring eyes greeted her. "Carmilla?" she asked, very confused even as she let up the pressure on her captive's throat.

 

"Well, hello to you, too, Cupcake," she responded breathlessly. "You greet everyone like that or just little ol' me?"

 

She was about to apologize and let up when reality set in. She leaned a hair closer, their noses almost touching, hard eyes boring into Carmilla's. "Why are you here?"

 

"Got curious when Silas told me you were sneaking into the Library after hours. Got even more curious when a certain someone didn't show for any of her classes today."

 

"That's it? Nothing involving your Mother?" her voice was cold, suspicious.

 

"Nope, and if she'd asked me to be here, I'd be at the exact opposite end of campus."

 

Laura held her gaze for a few moments longer, trying to gauge the honesty in her words. Satisfied, she pulled away and nodded, "Sorry, can't be too careful."

 

"It's fine, I just don't usually go in for the kinky stuff on a first date."

 

Laura sputtered at that, unable to respond as Carmilla's lips pulled into a smug smirk. "Y-you are the worst," she finally got out, dropping into the nearby chair.

 

Carmilla walked over, perching on the desk and looking around, "So, speaking of my curiosity, what _are_  you doing in here?"

 

Laura's blush hadn't abated even as she met Carmilla's eyes seriously again. She seemed to be weighing her response carefully before she finally settled on, "Looking for something."

 

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here, a book?"

 

Laura imitated a game show buzzer and grinned, "Sorry, no prize for the hot vampire, try again later." There was a beat before they registered what Laura had said. Laura's blush was immediately back, and she slammed her head down on the desk.

 

Carmilla's smirk only grew wider, "Well, well, cutie, thanks for the compliment. You keep that up and I'll have to keep you around for the ego boost."

 

"Something tells me you don't need it," Laura shot back, rolling her head slightly to the side to glare at Carmilla with one eye.

 

"Doesn't mean I don't appreciate it," was the response, her tone breathy and low.

 

"H-hate you so much," Laura grumbled, that voice doing _things_ for her that were very much unappreciated at the moment.

 

"In all seriousness, Cupcake, I have no ulterior motive here. Just curious about the girl that has Silas and Will so worked up."

 

"Worked up?"

 

"Silas is more chipper than he has been in a while, and Will is acting like less of a mama's boy. Both are nice changes."

 

"Meh, Will's not so bad when he's not acting like a douche. It's hard to imagine Silas moping around, though."

 

"Nothing so dramatic, he was just a little down."

 

"What can I say? I'm a good influence."

 

"I'm sure Mother would beg to disagree."

 

"Well, who gives a crap? I've been here a week and I'm already tired of kowtowing to her whims."

 

"Believe me, it gets old fast," the words were barely more than a murmur, but Laura still picked up on the bitterness lacing them. She looked Carmilla in the eye and saw only resentment and anger. On an impulse, she reached out and placed a hand on the vampire's arm, giving her a smile. Carmilla stiffened, but relaxed after a moment, accepting the small gesture of comfort.

 

"Soooooo? Did Silas tell _everyone_ I've been in the Library?"

 

"Nope, just a neph-brother-sister thing."

 

Laura raised an eyebrow at the obvious correction, but didn't ask. "Well, at least I won't have to deal with the Dean snooping, then."

 

"She doesn't come in here. At least, I've never seen or heard of her doing it."

 

"Hmm, wonder why?"

 

"Well, if what Liz says about all the paperwork she does for her is true, she might be allergic to paper."

 

Laura snorted at that, "She makes Liz do her paperwork? What does she do all day then, stare menacingly at anyone walking past her window?"

 

"Nah, she probably just rubs her hands together and cackles madly while plotting world domination."

 

Laura laughed at that, but was caught in a yawn shortly thereafter. She scooped up her bag and waved discreetly to the computer as she rose. "Well, I think it's time for me to get some actual sleep for once."

 

"No spelunking tonight?"

 

"God, no. I've hit a brick wall there. You, uh, wouldn't happen to know how to get to the lowest levels would you?"

 

"Can't say that I do. What are you looking for?"

 

Laura just shook her head as they left the building, "I'm gonna keep that to myself for now, no offense."

 

"None taken, I'd honestly have been more surprised if you'd answered."

 

"Sorry, I've just learned to play some things close to the chest."

 

"Not a bad habit around here," the bitterness was back and Carmilla gave a rock on the path a fairly vicious kick. Laura bumped her shoulder gently and smiled again, an understanding look in her eyes. Carmilla gave a small smile in return but was confused when a wary look overcame Laura's face for a moment. Suddenly, Laura's hand was in hers, and she was leaning against her side as they walked, her head on Carmilla's shoulder. She tried not to stiffen or immediately push the other girl away. Laura didn't strike her as the type who got this comfortable this quickly, her stuttering and blushing evidence thereof, so she waited to see what had prompted the action.

 

Laura sighed in faux-contentment even as she whispered just barely loud enough for Carmilla to hear, "We're being followed."

 

Carmilla turned to the side to place a kiss to the crown of Laura's head, one eye peering discreetly behind them. A stocky male was walking a ways behind them, trying to remain unseen but apparently failing to account for the inhuman nature of his targets. "No one I recognize, how about you?"

 

Laura blushed at the kiss but continued with the charade, slipping into her 'on the job' mindset as best she could while snuggling up to the gorgeous vampire. She turned slightly as well, nuzzling into the crook of Carmilla's neck. "Nope, haven't seen him anywhere before. Can't sense anything, either, so he's probably human. Maybe he's just a run-of-the-mill idiot."

 

"Maybe, maybe not, but there's only one way to find out."

 

"Right, corner ambush?"

 

"Sounds good to me."

 

They rounded the corner up ahead and immediately tucked themselves up against the nearby building, crouching slightly in the deep shadows cast by the light just out of sight back around the corner. The man's pace quickened slightly and he soon came into view. He looked around in confusion and turned to take off down the sidewalk. When his back was turned, they sprang from the dark, each grabbing an arm and slamming him into the ground.

 

"Hey, there, no need to be shy," Carmilla taunted, her smile more predatory than playful. The man looked frantically between them before focusing intently on Laura. He grinned victoriously and let out a strange guttural cry, his eyes turning black and leaking a strange oily-black substance that began to run down his face. "What the fuck?" Carmilla cried, releasing him and stepping back.

 

"Not good," Laura muttered, grabbing either side of the man's head and wrenching it to the side. The resultant _crack_  was the last noise that came from him. "Not good at all," Laura repeated as she stood and took in their shifting surroundings. The air was thickening, the atmosphere seeming almost liquid it was so stifling. The colors became paradoxically more vibrant even as spires of the same strange black pus-like substance from the man's eyes speared through the surrounding earth.

 

"Once again, what the fuck?" Carmilla asked quietly, her eyes widening as the world distorted around them. She jumped as the light pole bent ninety degrees, bathing them in light.

 

"You absolute piece of crap!" Laura growled, going to kick the already dead man, her foot passing through the misty, black silhouette that was all that remained of the body.

 

"Laura, what is going on?" Carmilla fought to keep her voice steady, fought to keep her breathing normal as an overwhelming sense of pure malevolence settled over them. Suddenly, a large section of the building they'd used as cover ripped away and tried to flatten them. Laura pulled the stunned Carmilla out of the way. Laura gave her shoulder a shake and pulled Carmilla's face to look at her grim countenance when that didn't work.

 

"The douche was a demon spy, a human acting as their eyes. Didn't kill him quick enough and now we're in Limbo, the demon realm. Only two ways out. Find a medium and hope they have a spell ready, or hunt down and kill the one that dragged us in."

 

Carmilla just stared around at the strange reflection of the campus she knew so well. "How," she swallowed the lump in her throat, "do we find what pulled us in?"

 

"Oh, trust me, it'll find us."

 

"Not reassuring, Creampuff."

 

"I'm not here to spare your feelings. Either stay behind me and keep out of trouble or help me kill a few demons, your choice," she shot back, turning as more pillars of the black sludge plowed through the earth, this time leaving behind strange creatures. They looked like sentient masses of that same sludge, clad in porcelain armor and masks, large blades or spiked clubs replacing an arm on each.

 

"Demons?"

 

"Small fry, but not to be underestimated, they like to swarm and hit you from behind. Watch your back, literally," Laura advised, turning to take a defensive stance in front of the still-shocked vampire. She held her hands to either side and Carmilla caught sight of a slight glow from beneath her shirt. The light appeared over each palm and formed into a pair of obsidian-bladed swords. They were about three-and-a half-feet overall and their blades curved wickedly. Carmilla wasn't exactly a weapon aficionado, but had done plenty of reading on early world cultures while bored and thought she remembered a similar weapon in books on ancient Egypt called a khopesh. Unlike those, the inside curves on these were sharpened as well. Laura growled as one of the demons charged and leapt, its movements strange and stilted but nonetheless quick. She flipped one blade around and caught the club in the curve, pulling to the side and bringing her other around to sever the weapon-arm. The thing howled in pain but was cut short as Laura brought both swords to bear on its neck, severing its head neatly. The body toppled to the ground and Laura smirked, "Who's next?" Odd cries filled the air as the creatures charged as one this time. Laura waded into the oncoming wave like she was born to do it, deflecting strikes and severing limbs with precision. Carmilla was broken from her stupor by the sight of a blade swinging towards her, one obviously having slipped through the meat-grinder Laura was currently imitating. She pulled back just in time, the blade whistling past barely half an inch from her nose. Letting rage replace shock, she roared forward, slamming a fist into its chest and knocking it to the ground. She focused for a second and shifted, massive black paws batting away another strike as her panther form's jaws locked around the thing's mask. Holding down its blade-arm with one paw, she raked the claws of the other across its throat, yanking its head free with one hard pull and roaring a challenge to the rest after tossing it aside. "Whoa, that's your other form? Awesome!" Laura gushed, turning to admire the massive black cat whose dark coat blended almost seamlessly into the night. Carmilla was about to growl a warning when Laura casually twisted out of the way of the strike from behind and buried one blade in the demon's gut. The other flashed out and caught another's club, redirecting the strike into its compatriot's face. She twisted the buried blade and spun, both weapons held outward, neatly bisecting the three surrounding demons at the waist. The fight lasted another five minutes, Carmilla overwhelming the creatures with brute force while Laura skillfully flowed between their strikes, her attacks doing maximum damage with minimum effort.

 

_Silas did say she was good,_ Carmilla mused as she shifted back. Laura dodged the last demon's strike and stabbed one sword through its mask and the other through its chest, twisting and tearing each blade free in a spray of that black sludge. Carmilla started clapping slowly, a grin on her face, "Well, damn, Cupcake, you are certainly a force to be reckoned with."

 

Laura rolled her eyes but decided to play along, flourishing her blades in a flashy spin before bowing to the vampire, "Anything for my adoring fans."

 

"So, are we done?"

 

"Not by a long shot, we still have to find the big one with enough power to drag us here."

 

"I'm guessing whoever that is will be a lot tougher?"

 

"Yeah, just a bit."

 

Carmilla looked around uneasily at that, Laura's obvious skill was helping to put her more at ease, but this place still made her nervous. "Then let's get a move on, the sooner we're out of this place, the better."

 

"Just be careful, the more powerful demons are smarter, and more than willing to sacrifice a few pawns for a good ambush."

 

"Duly noted. Any idea where to start?"

 

"Like I said, they usually make themselv-AARGGHH!" Laura's scream was blood-curdling, her blades falling from her hands as a slim, serpentine figure materialized behind her, its own large sword now embedded in her chest.

 

**"Indeed we do,"** it hissed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm such a dick.


End file.
